Product News Round-Up: Windows XP, Samsung Galaxy s5 and Nest

Madeline Wigen | April 11, 2014

Microsoft retires Windows XP support

This week Microsoft retired support for its Windows XP operating system. Released in 2001, some estimates suggest that it still runs on 18-30% of all Windows PCs. What this means for users is that security flaws and bugs that come up for the system will no longer be fixed by Microsoft, making these systems more vulnerable to viruses and other serious issues. Read more about the types of organizations affected by the discontinuation of the product and how they’re adapting at CNET.

Samsung Galaxy s5 is released

This was a big week for Samsung products as the company delivered the Galaxy s5 to 125 markets, along with Samsung Gear 2 Neo smartwatches and the Samsung Gear Fit health tracker. The s5 has the fastest processor in the smartphone market but also has its own built-in fitness features, including a fingerprint scanner that will measure your heartbeat. The s5 is also touted as more durable and resistant to water damage than other phones. Read more about the release at The Verge and CNNMoney.

Nest responds to issues with its smoke detector

This week Nest announced that one of the features of their Protect smoke detector was not reliable and they were addressing the issue. The feature in question was the ability to silence the detector if it went off unnecessarily (say for smoke from a toaster) with a wave of the hand. The company said that it discovered in its testing lab that the smoke detector could be unintentionally silenced, prompting safety concerns. The company halted new sales on the item and pushed out a software update that would disable the feature. Read more about it at The Verge.